The Saga of Tanya The Evil, Vol. 8: In Omnia Paratus

by Carlo Zen

  It isn’t wordplay but a problem of subjects. Or probably it would be better to say that what’s lacking is an appropriate understanding of the situation.

  “B-but in that case…it’s such a huge risk…”

  “True. Normally, exposing the location of your HQ is too risky. After all, we’ve demonstrated to the Federation Army how effective decapitation tactics can be.”

  “I don’t understand what General von Zettour is thinking. It seems entirely too futile…”

  Serebryakov is probably speaking from her point of view as part of an active service unit. She has some understanding of the Federation Army, hence the apprehensions.

  Actually, the Federation Army—and people from the Federation—are extremely sensitive to decapitation tactics against an HQ. Their headquarters are so well protected, Tanya is liable to scoff, What are you, badgers?

  “You’re a respectable person, Lieutenant.”

  “Huh?”

  “If you get a chance, I recommend looking up how staff officers are educated at the war college. Basically, we’re taught to take the initiative and try to figure out what people hate!”

  You occasionally come across that sort among corporate employees, but the Imperial Army systematically selects people and trains them that way. Essentially, they’re a group of human resources whom they can trust with confidence.

  …And it’s precisely because Tanya understands the way staffers think that she is forced to choose action.

  When she looks at the officers around her, it seems that not even the captains, Meybert and Ahrens, have noticed: It’s unusual for such a high-ranking officer to put himself in danger.

  Frankly, it’s so unusual, it strikes her as suspicious. That is, she finds it difficult to discount her serious question as to whether it’s being used as a pretense to perform the rescue. Of course, on a fundamental level, she trusts Zettour. She believes in him, but…sometimes the organization’s reasoning can blow even a lieutenant general’s promises out of the water.

  “Anyhow. Flipping things around as you think them over is one of the basic principles of being a staff officer. General von Zettour exposed the location of HQ as a giant lantern.”

  “Ummm…”

  “All right, time for some social studies, Lieutenant.”

  “M-ma’am?”

  With her subordinate’s education in mind, Tanya inquires in a light tone, “The Imperial Army’s counterattacking unit has exposed the location of their HQ to the Federation Army. What will happen next? Well, what do you think? Be as candid as you like.”

  “I mean, I think they’ll be targeted by the Federation Army…”

  “You’re exactly right.”

  The answer is extremely simple, so surely the correct response should be given 100 percent of the time.

  After all…the Federation Army has plenty of bitter experiences of headquarters disabling, encirclement, and annihilation at the hands of the Imperial Army. You’d have to be delusional to think they have zero urge to attempt revenge. So they must be thrilled to feel they have a chance to crush an enemy HQ.

  And it’s probably not wrong to guess that their minds are monopolized by this idea of crushing.

  “Now let’s ask a different question. What if…the enemy was being attracted on purpose? Then what would happen?”

  “They would be perfect bait, but I don’t understand the motive. Even if they succeed in luring the enemy in, they don’t seem to have the units to take proper advantage.”

  “Lieutenant Serebryakov, you haven’t become a ghost by any chance, have you?”

  Tanya lightly kicks her puzzled adjutant’s foot, smiling as if to say, You have legs, don’t you? She exists. Accordingly, she is here. The Salamander Kampfgruppe, done up as the Lergen Kampfgruppe, exists…not that I want to work them so hard. This unit is powerful and too precious to lose.

  Also, I have to wonder if the eastern army’s strained B Group is even worth sacrificing ourselves for. Under these conditions, the organization’s interests—which transcend things like good, evil, and a boss’s disposition—could easily lead to a cruel conclusion. Considering the worst-case scenario, innocently waiting to be rescued would be an unforgivable act of folly.

  Thus, Tanya makes the same choice as her superior. She chooses what will be great in the best case and allows her self-preservation in the worst case.

  It’s simple.

  “You don’t get it? That’s such a surprise. There is a unit that can sneak up behind those numbskulls preying on the bait and leisurely kick their asses.”

  Sensing the non-voice filling the office—Where?—Tanya sighs. She can set aside the communications personnel and the noncoms, but even the Kampfgruppe officers who went through the academy don’t realize?

  Everyone needs to have a little more confidence in their existence… Or should I be disappointed that they’ve naively put too much faith in the military?

  Stifling the gripes in her mind, Tanya purposely continues in a light tone. “Here, troops.” Tap-tap. She lightly strikes the floor with a foot, as if performing a dance step, and goes on. “We’re here, aren’t we?”

  Since Soldim 528 is surrounded, the Federation Army must think of it as a static point. Yes, it’s hard for an isolated point to pose a threat to their rear. But the troops here include two companies from a seasoned aerial mage battalion. Adding in Wüstemann’s replacement unit and that’s standard head count for a full battalion.

  Certainly, pulling the replacements would be a bit much and cause issues with defending their position, but importantly…taking two companies for self-protection and flying to freedom seems surprisingly possible to justify.

  “What say we teach those Commies how sharp the fangs of this forgotten battalion are—whether they’re eager to learn or not!”

  Realizing what she’s saying, the officers gasp.

  “C-Colonel! You mean you’re going to pull the 203rd Aerial Mage battalion from the position while we’re still surrounded?!”

  “I do.”

  Meybert’s astonishment is probably warranted. Soldim 528 is an isolated, salient stronghold. And the troops surrounded inside only consist of an understaffed Kampfgruppe.

  If the whole mage battalion gets pulled out, their defensive fighting power would plummet. Even if they pushed ahead with fortifying the position, and Tanya stationed Tospan’s infantry and Wüstemann’s replacement mages there, it must be hard to imagine them holding out against the enemy’s fierce attack in the half-destroyed city.

  “It’ll be rough, Captain Meybert. You can make use of Captain Ahrens’s armored forces; they must be bored, since they’ve been on reserve. Do whatever you have to do to defend till it’s over.”

  It would be such a shame to lose these troops.

  Tanya hopes from the bottom of her heart that the defense is a success. But at the same time, she must prepare herself for the worst case of being forsaken by friendly troops and lead her units on the advance.

  If she does that and it goes well, everyone will be saved.

  And even if she fails, I’ll still be saved.

  “Your orders, ma’am.”

  He must not have a clue. After maintaining a respectful silence, Major Weiss inquires about their orders as usual, and spurred by his request, Tanya gives them.

  “…The aerial mage battalion is going on a long-range advance. But we need to keep our signals to a minimum. We don’t want our sortie to be detected.”

  “Huh?”

  “Try to do it as stealthily as possible. We’ll advance as fast as we can while suppressing our mana signals.”

  She can’t run away, leaving the rest of the unit as bait. This has to be done logically. They need to delay the enemy attack on the position by concealing the mages’ absence for as long as possible, or the rest of the troops won’t be able to hold out for very long.

  She’ll save her subordinates, save herself, and show off to Zettour in the process. In order to hit all three
birds with one stone, she has to make that compromise.

  “Once we’ve taken some distance, we’ll kick the Federation Army in the pants. Our higher-ups have given us this perfectly timed chance! Attack those numbskull enemy soldiers from behind.”

  If this goes well, some truly great outcomes are guaranteed.

  “Got it, troops? Sneak up quietly and destroy their asses. I don’t feel the need to repeat myself any more than this.”

  THE DAY SAME, IN THE VICINITY OF FEDERATION ARMY SIEGE LINE ONE

  To Lieutenant Colonel Drake, the Lergen Kampfgruppe was a powerful enemy to be feared. Tenacious defensive combat, occasional bold attacks, plus a stubborn infantry.

  Though he observed their movements, repeatedly scanning for any weaknesses, there were never any holes worthy of the name in their defenses—a fact that was enough to wear him out.

  Perhaps it should be said that that was Tanya’s intention. Like the Federation Army, Drake was also convinced that Soldim 528 was an isolated stronghold, a static point. He never dreamed that enemy troops could sneak out while surrounded.

  But fate is strange.

  The order Lieutenant Colonel von Degurechaff gave to her subordinates, to suppress their signals for the breakaway, became a strange trigger. For a sneak attack to kick the enemy in the rear, it was an extremely normal order. No, more than normal…it was straight-up theory.

  To put it simply, this officer, Degurechaff, made orthodox decisions. According to the manual, the rules, and even the sense most aerial mage officers had on the field, there was nothing mistaken about suppressing mana signals for stealth action.

  But it came with one unanticipated reaction.

  At Soldim 528, in order to prevent exhaustion and maintain combat capabilities, they were loosening up wherever they could, as exhibited by the frequent naps taken by the garrison.

  Naturally, the mages staying there couldn’t conceal their mana signals twenty-four seven.

  But because of Tanya’s strict orders to cut signals for the advance, their stealth action could be sensed by a sensitive mage as a kind of lack.

  So… Let us continue.

  The change was big enough for a marine magic officer, Drake, observing enemy movements on the first line surrounding the Imperial Army’s position, to feel something was off.

  “Tch, they have to be so vexingly impregnable. This is why I hate positions near railways. Coordinated defensive positions with infantry, artillery, and armored troops can fuck right off.”

  In urban combat, enemy soldiers had plenty of cover to hide behind, which meant they could really dig in. And then to have enemy artillery and armored troops butt in…

  “Hmm?”

  Drake stopped short at his own words.

  Coordinated defensive positions were fine.

  Infantry built them, artillery supported them, and enemy armored forces occasionally functioned as the strike axis—these defense positions were meant to be formidable.

  But one thing was missing.

  One of the enemy threats was gone.

  “…Only infantry, artillery, and tanks? No mages?”

  It was always his unit’s role to chase off the enemy mages attacking their infantry. But bizarrely, for whatever reason today, he was barely conscious of them.

  Why? As he was trying to articulate a response, he finally realized what had been feeling off for a while now.

  The number of enemy mana signals had…dramatically decreased.

  “Where did they go?”

  It wasn’t as if there weren’t any at all. Some were still active. He could pick up a few signals. But it was like a residue of the threat he’d constantly sensed up until the previous day. The feeling…had decreased dramatically.

  He would go as far as to say that it was like an empty husk.

  “Does this mean that utter pain-in-the-ass mage battalion—they’re all gone?!”

  It was necessary to consider the possibility that they were suppressing their signal as a ruse. The classic text on ambushes said the way you drew the enemy in was critical. Imperial soldiers were fairly skilled players when it came to the game of deception, so relaxing was not an option.

  …But Drake understood this intuitively.

  It was like reading the tide.

  Rather than overthink things with a chaotic mind, instinct, and intuition, sometimes the heart was far more accurate.

  That was especially the case when detecting ill will and threats. Survival instincts were effective for staying alive. This sort of intuition wasn’t logical. But it was terribly accurate. Anyone who laughed it off as occult nonsense was either a blockhead who had let their senses as a living thing go numb or a bigheaded jerk who had never been on the front lines.

  The intense pressure he should have been sensing from the enemy position under siege had scattered. If he had to describe it, he might say it was something like the void after something had left.

  Anyone with a sense for war could guess what had happened. This wasn’t an ambush. They—and that monster—were gone!

  Without another thought, Drake was off and running. It was extremely irritating that he couldn’t make things happen with a single order due to the inconvenience of being part of a multinational unit.

  While traveling from the position allotted to the Commonwealth troops all the way to HQ, even Drake, who was treated as an officer, was stopped by the Federation Army—what a pain.

  “Colonel Drake? I beg your pardon, but may I ask why you’ve come…?”

  The political officer stopping him with nonsense that had no place on a battlefield was a perfect example of bureaucracy in action. But while he usually felt political officers were only a hotbed of annoyances, this time he welcomed the encounter. If someone with the authority to make calls was around, this would be quick.

  “Lieutenant Tanechka, I need to speak to Colonel Mikel immediately.”

  “Comrade Colonel…? Did something happen?”

  Apparently, this political officer was decent enough that she wouldn’t waste his time with nonsense at a critical moment. Convinced that’s what made her better than most, he kept talking.

  “The enemies have made a move. They secretly pulled out some mage units!”

  Though the mages had left, the enemy position was still tight as all hell.

  The enemy infantry were so vicious, it made him sick; the artillery was disgustingly skilled; and the tank units were thoroughly familiar with urban warfare. But the aerial mages, who had proven limitlessly aggravating at Arene, were mostly gone.

  Thus, it’s obvious what we should conclude. He continued, “The enemy mages are concealing their whereabouts! Assault the enemy position immediately!”

  If they overwhelmed them with matériel superiority, they would be able to push through.

  It was brutal arithmetic, but they could expect definite results. The sacrifices would come with returns. At least, it would be better than attacking and leaving his subordinates’ bodies behind.

  “Let’s roll in with a tank desant! Hey, where’s the interpreter?! Prepare to sortie! Hurry! Get as much fuel and as many weapons as we can muster!”

  “Please wait!”

  The words hit him like ice water. Unable to conceal his disbelief, he shot back at her incredulously, “But can’t you see? This is our chance! Why in the world would we wait?!”

  “Colonel Drake, tank desants on enemy positions are prohibited with the exception of flank attacks! I can’t approve an act of barbarism that would expose people’s lives to unnecessary risk. Anything that would wear down your comrades in vain is…”

  “Are you stupid?!” He knew full well it was extremely rude, but he had to say it. “Look closely! Look with your own eyes!” Pointing at the town’s periphery, he continued, trying to calm his voice. “Most of the imperial mage forces are gone! Now is our chance—no, this is our only chance to combine our forces and overcome the infantry and tanks!”

  “Do you have definite proof?�
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  “Definite proof? Of what?”

  “Where’s the proof that the enemy isn’t lying in wait to ambush us?!”

  Where would that be?

  Who would expect it?

  This is the forward-most line!

  “If you want the risk to be zero, take off your uniform right now! Bury yourself and enjoy eternal rest! We’re fighting a war here!”

  In the uncertainty of the fog of war, it’s all doubt and hesitation until you seize upon the optimal plan. In the end, you’re gambling with people’s lives—that always comes with a risk.

  But this time, we can strike with confidence, so why hold back?!

  “The lack of signals, the operating conditions, and above all, the situational assessment! Take a look at how they’re moving, and there’s no doubt in my mind! If you call yourself an officer, then make a judgment call!”

  “Have you thought about what it would mean if we failed?!”

  “It would still count as reconnaissance in force! And first off, there’s no way they can hold the line with their mage units gone! We should be able to break through to the urban area!”

  “I find it difficult to believe we have a real chance! Did you not get the notice from the party?!”

  The way she spoke to him so condescendingly made Drake explode. He was always thinking seriously about the war.

  He didn’t need this additional hurdle of a political officer’s hand-holding.

  “You mean about how the cities down south are seeing fierce fighting? Isn’t that precisely why it would be meaningful for us to put pressure on the enemy?! That’s why we’re here!”

  “The orders we were given on this front are to be a threat to weakened imperial units and prevent the enemy from concentrating in the south. Therefore, all we need to do is encircle—”

  If he interrupted a woman in the home country, Drake would’ve been slapped in the face with an etiquette manual. But on the battlefield, there was no distinguishing between men and women—a stupid asshole was a stupid asshole.